Skip to main content

Tag: Holmes Beach parking

All roads lead to parking

All roads lead to parking

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach, Manatee County.

MANATEE COUNTY – Despite having 12 items on the agenda for a joint meeting, the recent discussion between Holmes Beach and Manatee County commissioners kept coming back to one contentious topic – beach parking.

It may have only been March 1, but the lengthy meeting produced as many fireworks as any Fourth of July display.

Though the parking item had a time-certain discussion planned for 11 a.m. during the two-and-a-half-hour session, the topic was the proverbial elephant in the room from the start.

The meeting kicked off with public comment, during which several east county residents stated their resentment of Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth concerning traffic and an inability for some beachgoers to find parking in Holmes Beach. The onslaught of comments prompted Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge to remind speakers to remain civil in their comments and Holmes Beach Commissioner Carol Soustek to note that while Titsworth is the face of the city’s leadership, it’s the commissioners who vote to accept or deny proposed changes, including those related to parking.

Beachgoers driving into Holmes Beach have had issues finding parking spaces for years. – Kristin Swain | Sun

Beach patrol

During a discussion on beach patrol funding, Titsworth said she’d like the county to step up their financial support of the Holmes Beach Police Department, which is tasked with policing the county-owned beach, public beaches in Holmes Beach and Kingfish Boat Ramp, along with the rest of the city. While the county currently reimburses the city $46,612 for beach patrol services, Titsworth said the city pays about $150,000-160,000 per year to adequately patrol the beaches, boat ramp and beach parking.

The mayor said she’d like to see the county increase its financial support, working up to a minimum of $90,000 per year to be more in line with the amount offered to the Bradenton Beach Police Department annually for similar services, and ideally $115,000 or more to cover the entire cost of one HBPD officer.

While Titsworth acknowledged that the city of Bradenton Beach has a longer stretch of county-owned beach, she noted that Holmes Beach is a larger city and provides more public parking for beachgoers than the Anna Maria Island city to the south.

Manatee County Commissioner George Kruse said that while he appreciates Titsworth’s request for more beach patrol funding, he wanted to know what city leaders are prepared to do for the county in exchange for additional funding, a sentiment echoed by Commissioner Vanessa Baugh.

All roads lead to parking
Holmes Beach Commissioner Terry Schaefer gives his opinion on parking issues in the Anna Maria Island city while Commission Chair Carol Soustek looks on. – Kristin Swain | Sun

Holmes Beach Commissioner Terry Schaefer said Holmes Beach city leaders had come to the meeting to discuss items of concern, not to try and leverage one item for another.

County Commissioner Carol Whitmore, a Holmes Beach resident, said she thinks the stretch of beach in Holmes Beach is too small to necessitate the spending of more funds to police it. County Administrator Scott Hopes said he thinks the county’s funding to Holmes Beach is complimentary to the amount given to Bradenton Beach, $125,000, given the size of the city versus the size of the county park, Manatee Beach and Kingfish Boat Ramp, within the city.

Accusations fly

When 11 a.m. finally rolled around and leaders could get to the discussion they really wanted to have, beach parking, accusations began to fly around the room on both sides.

Van Ostenbridge accused Holmes Beach leaders of having less than 1% of the population of Manatee County and closing its beaches to 99% of Manatee County residents to save its own residents.

Titsworth called out Van Ostenbridge for “weaponizing funding” in a bid to try and force city leaders’ hands to allow beach parking to go unrestricted in the small city to the detriment of Holmes Beach residents, who she pointed out, are also Manatee County residents who pay county taxes. She accused Manatee County commissioners of being unwilling to work with the city and learn the facts about what happens in the Island city and how issues affect residents and tourists alike.

At the crux of the discussion was the status of about 480 parking spaces located solely on the sides of residential streets in neighborhoods near beach accesses. Those residential streets are maintained by the city of Holmes Beach and are funded by tax dollars paid to the city, not the county. Public parking also has long been a headache for nearby residents, who often find trash and litter in their yards, people vandalizing their property, some trespassing and using their private pools and water hoses as public facilities and others defecating in their yards.

After more than a decade of discussion, 124 of those 480 spaces were designated in 2021 as Holmes Beach resident permit parking only from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily after being closed to public access since 2020. Ever since that decision was made by Holmes Beach commissioners, it’s been a sore spot between city and county leaders.

Van Ostenbridge demanded that city leaders reopen all city streets to public parking.

“You want 400 spaces?” Soustek countered. “480 parking spaces is a spit in the ocean,” she said, noting that the number of people trying to find parking in Holmes Beach regularly exceeds that amount. She added that opening residential streets to the onslaught of beach parking wouldn’t guarantee Manatee County residents a space to park, that they would still need to get up early to drive out to the Island and avoid traffic and parking stresses.

Holmes Beach Commissioner Jayne Christenson suggested county commissioners designate some of the spaces at Manatee Beach as Manatee County resident-only parking, a suggestion dismissed by county commissioners without comment.

All roads lead to parking
Manatee County Commissioners Kevin Van Ostenbridge, James Satcher and Reggie Bellamy listen as Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth addresses beach parking issues. – Kristin Swain | Sun

“You’ll never have enough spaces and the people will never all be able to get out to the beach,” Titsworth said, noting all of the housing developments currently planned for Manatee County and the increase of people expected to travel to Anna Maria Island’s beaches. At about seven miles long, with about three miles of that being Holmes Beach, she said Anna Maria Island only has so much room to fit people and vehicles on.

Commissioner Terry Schaefer said residential street parking wasn’t going to be used as a bargaining chip between the city and county.

Whitmore said that while she wants to work with city leaders, she’s opposed to the permit parking system and refuses to pay for one herself. She also said she feels that Holmes Beach has too many rules, including the newly instituted city-wide 25 mph speed limit.

Getting down to business

With tensions already flaring between the two groups, Manatee County Director of Parks and Natural Resources Charlie Hunsicker offered the results of a parking study conducted by APTIM/CPE, an independent group. The field study was completed in 2020 with the report from that study dated September 2021. The study area was limited to the city of Holmes Beach and conducted on parking spaces located within a quarter-mile of beach access points and compared to a similar report from 2013.

According to that report, the city of Holmes Beach has 775 public parking spots located within a quarter-mile of public beach access points, with an additional 480 spaces that are either without signs or reserved/permit only. According to the 2013 report, there were 1,255 public parking spaces with the only change being 480 spaces converted to unsigned/reserved status. Of those 480 spaces, 124 were observed to be reserved for resident permit-only parking from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with the other 356 “lost” spaces being attributed to parking obstructions and a potential increase in no parking signed areas. Signed public parking spaces in the study area actually increased by 12, with the number of unsigned spaces decreasing by 492 from 2013 to 2020, reducing driver uncertainty on where parking is allowed.

To receive beach renourishment funding, Holmes Beach is required by the state of Florida to have 364 public parking spaces located within a quarter-mile of the beach. In the city’s interlocal agreement with the county regarding beach renourishment funding, Holmes Beach is committed to having about 500 spaces within a quarter-mile of the beach. Currently, there are more than 1,200 public parking spaces, not including resident permit parking spaces, located within a quarter-mile of public beach access with more available throughout the city but located outside of the quarter-mile area.

Titsworth said she’s not only concerned with the issues residents see in neighborhoods but how those issues could also affect the city’s tourism, with more than 1,500 short-term rental properties located in residential neighborhoods. She added that for people just coming to the beach for the day, there need to be adequate restroom, trash and food facilities as well as crosswalks to get safely from parking areas to the beach.

She suggested that county leaders meet with her to work on a renegotiation of the lease for the Island Branch Library land to allow for public parking at that facility when the library is closed. She also noted that public parking is allowed at Holmes Beach City Hall. In addition, if county leaders want to use Anna Maria Elementary School’s parking spaces as public parking when the school isn’t open, she said they should go through proper permitting with the city and provide portable restroom facilities, trash cans and either a crossing guard or lighted beacon for the crosswalk across Gulf Drive.

Van Ostenbridge said he expects people to know how to cross the road when coming to the Island, dismissing the idea of having either a crossing guard or flashing beacon to alert drivers at the location.

Parking garage

Another idea floated around during the meeting was the construction of a parking garage in Holmes Beach to provide more public parking.

Titsworth suggested commissioners consider the purchase of additional property in the city to build a garage on, such as the old Bank of America building on the southeast corner of East Bay Drive and Manatee Avenue. The site is located about two blocks from the entrance to Manatee Beach.

That idea was shot down by Manatee County commissioners. Whitmore said it wasn’t worth it to the county to build a parking garage limited to the city’s 36-foot building height limitations. Titsworth said that with the height limitations in the city’s charter, it would take Holmes Beach voters casting their ballots in favor of changing it to allow for a larger garage to be built. Van Ostenbridge said he opposes purchasing additional property in Holmes Beach and if commissioners decide to build a parking garage in the city, he’d want it to be at Manatee Beach.

Another meeting between Manatee County commissioners and Holmes Beach city leaders is planned to take place in the future to continue discussions.

Related coverage

 

Commission candidates address beach parking

 

County commissioner proposes beach parking garage

 

Holmes Beach parking permits prove controversial

Holmes Beach: The Year in Review

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Holmes Beach, Special Sections, Year in Review.

HOLMES BEACH – Anna Maria Island’s biggest city was home to some of the Island’s biggest issues in 2021.

The year began in the same manner as some previous years, with city leaders facing off in legal battles with the owners of the two-story beachfront treehouse at Angelino’s Sea Lodge. With legal issues still pending in Manatee County Circuit Court, tree house owners Lynn Tran-Hazen and Richard Hazen getting no relief on fines from the Holmes Beach special magistrate during hearings, the fate of the treehouse is still up in the air after almost a decade of legal battles. At the beginning of 2022, the treehouse is still right where it was a year ago – aloft in its beachfront perch with its future undecided, though Tran-Hazen did state in mid-2021 that if once all legal options are exhausted, the court decides in the city’s favor, the couple will have the treehouse removed.

The fate of the beachfront tree house at Angelino’s Sea Lodge still hasn’t been decided so the two-story structure remains aloft in its Australian pine perch. – Cindy Lane | Sun

The relationship between Holmes Beach city leaders and Manatee County commissioners also took a hit in 2021 over public beach parking. To resolve issues from the overcrowding of vehicles in residential areas, city leaders enacted a permit parking program, allowing public parking on some city streets near beach accesses only after 5 p.m. daily. Starting with the Memorial Day holiday weekend in 2021, Manatee County commissioners pushed back, demanding that Holmes Beach leaders reopen all residential streets to public parking to allow for more beachgoers to park in those areas. City leaders held firm to their stance and the argument is continuing in 2022, with a meeting planned to be held between the two parties to discuss issues in the coming months.

Golf cart/low-speed vehicle safety and the future of businesses renting the vehicles was a hot topic in Holmes Beach. – Kristin Swain | Sun

In good news, the city’s multiple Bert Harris lawsuits were concluded in the fall of 2021 with a global settlement option. In exchange for the owners to be able to develop three properties in the city to sizes beyond what is allowed by Holmes Beach building codes, all of the outstanding Bert Harris Jr. Act lawsuits against the city were dismissed. This brought more than three years of litigation to a close, though the residential neighbors of one of the properties weren’t too happy about a large vacation rental being allowed to be constructed in their neighborhood.

Golf cart and low-speed vehicle safety and regulations were a topic among commissioners and business owners all year. With a six-month moratorium stopping the establishment of golf cart and LSV brick-and-mortar rental companies in Holmes Beach set to expire in February, commissioners ended 2021 still discussing how to best regulate businesses and the booming use of the vehicles by visitors and residents in the city. While the discussion moving into 2022 is still on safety, commissioners have largely decided that preventing a business from opening up shop in Holmes Beach won’t stop the influx of the vehicles in the Island city as they can simply be trucked in from another location. To address safety issues, commissioners are considering lowering the speed limit city-wide to 25 miles per hour, requiring every seat on the vehicles to have a seat belt and looking at insurance concerns.

Commissioners Pat Morton, Carol Soustek and Terry Schaefer won another two years on the city commission in the Nov. 2 election. – Kristin Swain | Sun

The Nov. 2, 2021 election brought a familiar face back to the city commission dais as Commissioner Pat Morton was re-elected after losing his seat in 2020 to newcomer Commissioner Jayne Christenson. Also re-elected for additional two-year terms were Commissioners Terry Schaefer and Carol Soustek. This year’s election brought out more than one challenger for the incumbents as residents Renee Ferguson and John Monetti also tossed their hats in the ring for one of the three seats up for grabs on the city commission. Incumbent Commissioner Jim Kihm opted to not run for an additional term.

Memorial Day weekend parking sparks drama in Holmes Beach

Parking rift between city, county widens over Memorial Day

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – Memorial Day weekend brought thousands of people to Anna Maria Island to celebrate the holiday weekend, exacerbating the disagreement between Manatee County commissioners and Holmes Beach city leaders over beach parking.

Prior to the start of the weekend, some Manatee County leaders wanted Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth to open more residential city streets for public beach parking. Titsworth refused, and new County Administrator Scott Hopes made a late-night deal on May 28 with the Manatee County School Board, of which he was a member at the time, to use the parking lot at Anna Maria Elementary School for public parking through Memorial Day, though overnight parking was not allowed there. He also allowed for the public to use the parking lot at the Island Branch Library for beach parking after the library closed for the weekend.

While Hopes informed county commissioners of the decision, Titsworth said that he did not provide any notice of the parking allowances to Holmes Beach leaders or police.

If the county’s leaders wish to continue providing public parking at the school and library sites, Titsworth said they’re going to have to work with the city on it.

First, she said the use of the school property for anything other than its intended use requires either a special use permit from the city or an updated site plan approval by city staff and potentially city commissioners.

A temporary special use permit is needed to provide parking one time or sporadically at the site. A site plan amendment would be needed to provide beach parking at the school on an ongoing basis.

Beach parking at the Island Branch Library poses a more difficult challenge for county officials, primarily because the property is owned by the city of Holmes Beach and leased by the county strictly for the library. Providing beach parking in the library parking lot is in violation of the county’s lease for the property, Titsworth said.

If county officials push to provide additional beach parking at the school, Titsworth said she would remove an equal number of spots from residential streets. She said she would not be adding any additional beach parking in Holmes Beach.

Holmes Beach currently has 1,261 non-permit public parking spaces and 642 residential permit-only parking spaces until 5 p.m. daily within a quarter-mile of the beach, including spaces located at beach access points. When city leaders closed off some residential streets to public parking following a COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020 of all beach parking spaces, 497 parking spaces were lost citywide.

Hopes did not return calls for comment.

Holiday weekend numbers

After the holiday weekend, Police Chief Bill Tokajer said that he counted an average of 31,222 vehicles passing into the city each day from Friday, May 28 through Monday, May 31 for a total of just under 125,000 vehicles. Despite a large number of people in the city, Tokajer said Holmes Beach police officers only wrote 169 parking tickets, and none of those were at the two parking lots authorized by Hopes. Some parking tickets were written for cars parked at AME, but those were written by Manatee County officers patrolling that area, he said.

In a May 28 email to county commissioners, Hopes said that parking at the school would be available in the designated parking lot May 29-31 from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and that the county would make sure that all litter, trash and debris was removed from the school parking lot by June 1 at 7 a.m.

While the trash was removed from the school parking lot, Tokajer said that county officials did not make any preparations for the additional trash at beach access points near the school to be collected. He added that he and other city officials heard about the beach parking at the school and library from local media outlets and that he was very disappointed that the city was not included in the conversation with the county officials who made the decision to allow the extra beach parking. In the future, Tokajer said he hopes there will be open communication between city and county leaders.

Titsworth said she felt that other than issues with trash, the impromptu parking at the school and library went well over the weekend. She said that issues with additional parking throughout the city remain, such as the need for additional trash and restroom facilities and lifeguards to be stationed further down the beach than just at Manatee Beach. Without these necessities, Titsworth said a public health and safety issue persists.

As Tokajer and his officers patrolled the parking areas over the weekend, they discovered that the majority of people using the parking areas that county commissioners intended for Manatee County residents weren’t used by residents.

At the parking lot at AME, Tokajer said on Saturday there were 47 cars parked in the lot. When officers ran the plates of those cars, it was noted that only one vehicle was from Manatee County. At the Manatee Beach parking lot, he said there were 335 vehicles parked and less than 10% of those were from Manatee County.

On Memorial Day, Tokajer said he observed a group of six vehicles in a row parked with the occupants unloading for the beach. When asked, he said the occupants of five cars said they were from Orlando and the sixth was from Ocala.

Related coverage

 

Memorial Day weekend parking sparks drama in Holmes Beach

 

Lifeguards, law enforcement prepared for busy beach holidays

 

Holmes Beach mayor declines Van Ostenbridge’s meeting request

Memorial Day weekend parking sparks drama in Holmes Beach

Memorial Day weekend parking sparks drama in Holmes Beach

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – The ongoing saga of beach parking in the biggest city on Anna Maria Island is hitting a fever pitch over the busy Memorial Day weekend.

In a bid to gain more parking for Manatee County residents and visitors going to the Island’s beaches, county Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge announced during a May 25 commission meeting that he would be asking Holmes Beach officials to reopen street parking that was turned into permit parking for city residents only in the wake of COVID-19 closures. The consideration for making some streets near beaches permit-only parking until 5 p.m. wasn’t a new idea, it was just made easier to implement after all parking was closed due to pandemic shutdowns.

Last week, county commissioners sent a letter to Holmes Beach officials asking them to reopen the parking spaces to everyone in the public – not just the city’s residents – for the busy Memorial Day weekend. Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth denied the request.

If all of this sounds familiar, it’s because trying to demand more parking on Holmes Beach streets for the public on the Island has been an ongoing theme since Van Ostenbridge took office in November. And each time the subject’s been broached, city leaders have denied the request, citing safety concerns for residents and overcrowding during busy times on the Island. Titsworth’s response has consistently been that Holmes Beach residents shouldn’t bear the brunt of the need for more parking on the Island and that county officials should consider alternative transportation options instead of focusing on parking.

With an average of 30,000 people coming to Holmes Beach daily during season and more than that on busy holiday weekends, according to numbers provided by Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer, finding a way to accommodate that many cars on a 7-mile island won’t be an easy task. Titsworth suggests people coming from the mainland take advantage of other transportation options, such as the beach express free bus that allows people to park their cars at 75th Street and Manatee Avenue in the Beachway Plaza and take a bus ride to the Island’s beaches.

To solve the immediate issue of Memorial Day weekend parking, County Administrator Scott Hopes received permission from the Manatee County School Board to open the lots at Anna Maria Elementary School in Holmes Beach for public parking, though no overnight parking was permitted. Hopes also arranged for public parking at the Island Branch Library in Holmes Beach after the library closed at 5 p.m. on May 29.

In an email to county commissioners, Hopes said he would personally oversee the launch of public parking at the two sites and that they would be monitored by code officers. He added that the county would be in charge of all cleaning and trash pickup from the two parking areas.

All permit parking spaces in Holmes Beach open to the public after 5 p.m. daily.

Adding to the traffic congestion at the start of the Memorial Day weekend was a Florida Department of Transportation intersection improvement project at the intersection of Manatee Avenue and Gulf Drive just in front of the entrance to Manatee Beach.

The project shut down two left-turn lanes at the intersection, one going north on Gulf Drive and another going east on Manatee Avenue from Gulf Drive. Though construction on the project stopped in the afternoon on Friday, May 28, it picks up again for milling and resurfacing overnight from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. June 1-4.

Related coverage

 

Holmes Beach parking permits prove controversial

 

New county commissioner warns Holmes Beach of parking concerns

 

Parking penalties instituted in Holmes Beach

Parking penalties increasing in Holmes Beach

Parking penalties instituted in Holmes Beach

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – If you’re a driver who violates the parking rules in the city of Holmes Beach, beware. There are new penalties in place for violators.

City commissioners voted unanimously on Nov. 17 to approve increases for parking fines in the city. Here’s what those increases look like:

  • Increase a general parking violation from $50 to $75;
  • Establish a $250 fine for using a fraudulent parking permit;
  • Charge a $15 late penalty for unpaid parking tickets 10 days after the parking fine is due instead of the previous five days;
  • Increase illegal handicap and Purple Heart parking violations to $250;
  • Increase the fine to $250 for impeding emergency access to the beach.

Parking fine increases aren’t the only change that drivers can expect.

During the Nov. 17 work session, commissioners heard a proposal from Police Chief Bill Tokajer to allow his officers to have a boot in each police vehicle and use it to prevent drivers with three or more outstanding parking tickets from operating their vehicles until delinquent fines are paid.

Tokajer said that currently there are two people with three unpaid parking violations and one with four unpaid parking violations in the city. Right now, he said the city’s regulations allow drivers to have 10 unpaid violations before the city’s officers can pursue the issue.

Under the proposed new regulations, parking tickets would have to be paid before the wheel locking device would be removed by officers.

The proposed ordinance states that the officer writing the citation would have the discretion to either boot or tow the vehicle once three or more unpaid parking violations have accumulated. He said it would be his officers’ intention to boot the vehicles unless they’re blocking traffic.

Tokajer added that his officers currently use the wheel locking devices on illegally parked golf carts because they’re not required to have a license plate so there’s no way to know who the owner or driver is if they’re not on site when the citation is issued.

Commissioner Carol Soustek said she has “no problem with enforcing adequate, responsible laws whether they’re friendly or not.”

Commissioner Kim Rash said he would be happy backdating the ordinance to an effective date of Jan. 1, 2020, and asked if the chief could look into determining a fee for unlocking a boot when it’s used on a vehicle.

Though Commissioner Jim Kihm expressed some concern about backdating the ordinance to the first of the calendar year, commissioners agreed to move the proposed regulations forward to a first reading at an upcoming meeting with an effective date of Jan. 1.

Beach renourishment parking requirement met

During a regular meeting held the same evening, Mayor Judy Titsworth and commissioners addressed comments from Manatee County commissioners made at their Nov. 17 meeting concerning the lack of beach parking in the city and possible withholding of funding if city leaders don’t meet the county leaders’ demands.

Soustek said that she would like to have one commissioner or the mayor attend the county commission meetings on a rotating schedule to have representation in case something like the Nov. 17 discussion, which wasn’t on the meeting’s agenda, happens again. She said that there’s a lack of communication between the city’s elected officials and Manatee County commissioners that she would like to see repaired, as evidenced by incorrect information cited by county commissioners during their meeting. During the Nov. 23 organizational meeting, Soustek applauded Titsworth for her quick reaction in sending two informational letters to county commissioners concerning parking in the city.

After COVID-19 restrictions were lifted and a permit parking program for residents was enacted, city officials eliminated 497 on-street parking spaces; 1,261 non-permit spots remain available to the public within a quarter-mile of the beach, as well as 642 resident permit-only until 5 p.m. spots. Chief Bill Tokajer said the city has well over the approximately 500 parking spots needed to be granted beach renourishment funds.

During the city commission meeting, Titsworth addressed the comments brought up by county commissioners during their meeting.

Titsworth said that she was not given notice by county commissioners that parking in Holmes Beach would be discussed during their meeting and didn’t have a chance to speak on the city’s behalf to correct the statements made during their meeting. During her city’s meeting, she reiterated that she’d spoken with county officials when parking restrictions were being discussed and that they were comfortable with the 500 spaces offered for beach renourishment. She said the 500 spaces required per an interlocal agreement between Holmes Beach and Manatee County was approved by Florida state officials. The city is legally required to have 378 spaces to receive beach renourishment funds.

Tokajer thanked Titsworth for her quick response and clarification of the issue of parking spaces, adding “the way that county commissioners and county employees treated this city in their meeting today is just shocking and appalling at the least. I’ll leave it at that.”

Related coverage

 

New county commissioner warns Holmes Beach of parking concerns

 

Increases coming for parking violations

 

Commissioners go forward with permit parking

Increases coming for parking violations

Increases coming for parking violations

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – Commissioners agreed unanimously to move a draft ordinance raising parking fine violations to a first reading.

During an Oct. 13 work session, Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer presented commissioners with a plan to increase parking violations in the city. After Tokajer made his case for the increase in fine amounts, Commissioner Jim Kihm suggested a few changes, namely increasing the proposed violation amount for permit fraud to a maximum of $250 and increasing the fine amount for impeding emergency vehicle access to the beach to $250.

Here are all of the proposed fine amount increases:

  • Increase a general parking violation from $50 to $75,
  • Establish a $250 fine for using a fraudulent parking permit,
  • Charge a $15 late penalty to be charged 10 days after the parking fine is due instead of the current five days,
  • Increase illegal handicap and Purple Heart parking violations to $250.

Tokajer said that out of the 2,920 parking tickets Holmes Beach police officers have written year to date through September, about 100 of those, or 4.5%, were written to residents with 41 of those voided as a one-time resident education opportunity.

“Residents don’t get a lot of parking tickets in Holmes Beach,” he said.

Commissioner Carol Soustek said that she hopes that the larger parking fine amounts will discourage people from parking illegally to go to the beach, shrugging off the current $50 fine as a parking fee.

The draft ordinance goes before commissioners for a first reading at an upcoming city commission meeting.

Related coverage

 

Permit parking approved in Holmes Beach

 

Commissioners go forward with permit parking

 

Changes for parking plans on the agenda

Commissioners go forward with permit parking

Commissioners go forward with permit parking

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – Commissioners called a special meeting July 7 to vote on the first reading of an ordinance implementing permit-only parking in residential neighborhoods near the beach. The first reading passed with a unanimous vote and will go for a final reading during a July 21 meeting.

The early morning meeting resulted in a few changes to the ordinance as an updated map was presented illustrating the areas throughout the city that are planned to be open for streetside public parking and those where only residents with permits will be able to park on the street.

Commissioners were concerned with putting the cost of the permit parking program on the city’s residents, proposed at $20 per permit to be renewed annually. Commissioner Kim Rash said he didn’t agree with charging people to park on the street in front of their own homes. With the coming 2020-21 budget already a concern for city leaders due to lower than usual expected revenues from state funding sources, Commissioner Carol Soustek suggested raising the city’s parking violation fine from $50 to $75 to absorb the cost of the permit program.

Though commissioners informally agreed to the raised fine amount, City Attorney Patricia Petruff said it would take the approval of a separate ordinance to raise the parking fine amount.

Chief Bill Tokajer said signs would be installed in the coming week at beach access points designating golf cart-only parking spaces. Under the permit program, golf carts also will be able to take advantage of the permit-only street parking, however things get a little complicated depending on what kind of golf cart is being used. A regular golf cart, one that doesn’t require a tag or registration with the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles, can be parked anywhere in the permit parking zone without a permit from the city. A low-speed vehicle, or LSV, a golf cart or other vehicle not a car or truck that does require a license plate and DMV registration, will be able to park in the permit only zone but will require a permit sticker issued by the city.

Though commissioners discussed making the permit parking 24 hours a day every day, after much discussion and input from Tokajer they opted to start out with permit parking from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, allowing public parking on the street in the residential area after 5 p.m. so that people can have a party or dinner guests without having to contact the police department first to get passes for guests to park on the street. For residents choosing to have guests during the permit parking- only hours where parking cannot be accommodated on their property, they will still need to contact the police department to get authorized parking passes for guests or ask for a bag to be placed over the permit only signs while their guests are present.

Tokajer did say it will be necessary for the city to purchase new signs for the permit parking area at a cost of about $2,400.

Commissioners agreed unanimously to put the permit parking to a six-month review to see how it works for the residents and what changes to the program need to be made.

Commissioners next meet on July 21 for a meeting and work session to be held via Zoom.

Related coverage

Commissioners consider permit parking

Changes for parking plans on the agenda

Parking space reduction spurs protest, dialogue

Holmes Beach logo OLD

Commissioners consider parking concession for residents

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – While city leaders await the delivery and installation of new posts and signs for street side, right of way and beach access parking, all of those options remain closed to beachgoers, even those who reside in the city.

During a May 26 commission meeting, Chief Bill Tokajer said that while the parking signs and the posts for them are expected to arrive over the next several days, it could take two weeks or more to have them all installed. Once the installation is complete, he said parking will be reopened at beach accesses but remain closed along city streets and in the rights of way. This opens up about 479 spaces, more than are needed for beach renourishment funding but keeps about 2,000 spaces permanently closed.

Over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, Tokajer said his officers issued parking tickets but did not tow any illegally parked vehicles.

Though he said that he’s received 98% support from residents on the new parking plan, there’s still a small percent, particularly those that live on the east side of Holmes Beach who have to drive to the beach, that are unhappy with the decision. In an effort to assist those residents with obtaining a beach parking space more easily, Tokajer said he’s looking at designating golf cart parking spaces at some beach accesses. The reasoning for designated golf cart spaces is that residents and visitors to the Island will be the only people arriving at the beach in golf carts, not people from town or other areas.

Though Tokajer said not all beach access points are large enough to accommodate handicapped parking spaces, four will be designated at the 53rd Street access near the Martinique condominiums. He added that a volunteer from the community has offered to install a handicap ramp to assist with beach access at the location.

Another group having difficulty with the new beach parking arrangements are area churches.

While Tokajer said beach parking has been taking place at CrossPointe Fellowship, it was not under authorization from the church’s leaders and Holmes Beach police can’t interfere because the parking lot is located in the city of Anna Maria.

In contrast, Father Matthew Grunfeld spoke during public comment at the meeting, petitioning for the Episcopal Church of the Annunciation to be able to allow parking at the church’s lot for a donation.

With donations down due to the church’s closure for COVID-19 precautions and a dwindling resident population on the Island, Grunfeld said that allowing beach parking, overseen by volunteers from the church, gives his congregation a new way to minister to the public and also collect a freewill offering if drivers are so inclined to donate to the church.

Though the church did contact the city prior to beginning the parking project and received the police chief’s blessing, Tokajer said a later consultation with the city planner’s office revealed a zoning issue with allowing beach parking at the church parking lot or any private lot in the city.

Mayor Judy Titsworth said she appreciated what the church is trying to do, but that the church or any other owner of a private parking lot would have to submit to the city planner’s office for a site plan review. If the site plan review meets the criteria, it would go before the city commission for review and a vote. Currently, allowing parking and accepting money for it is a nonconforming use, Titsworth said.

Commissioner Terry Schaefer and resident Jayne Christenson both spoke in favor of the church being allowed to host beach parking, saying that the volunteers at the Church of the Annunciation were running a very orderly, friendly operation.

Though Titsworth said a site plan review could take time if there isn’t something immediate that the planner’s office staff can suggest, Schaefer said he’d like to keep searching for a way to help the church members continue with their parking outreach project.

Titsworth said no applications for a site plan review had been received as of May 26.

Related coverage

Parking still a problem in Holmes Beach

Parking remains closed in Holmes Beach

Holmes Beach parking closed for beachgoers

Parking still a problem in Holmes Beach

Parking still a problem in Holmes Beach

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – Beachgoers beware. Right of way, street and beach access parking are still closed in Holmes Beach with most parking spaces planned to remain closed to drivers once the COVID-19 threat is over.

During a May 12 commission meeting, Police Chief Bill Tokajer updated commissioners on a plan to eliminate right of way and street parking on all streets in the city west of the Gulf, East Bay, Marina and Palm Drive main thoroughfare. Tokajer said that “no parking” signs and poles had been ordered and were expected to arrive within the next few weeks with additional time needed for sign installation. With the current plan, he said it would be the end of the month before any street parking spaces are open to the public, including visitors and residents.

Until those signs are installed, all street, right of way and beach access parking remains closed to the public. Violators may receive parking tickets or have their car towed at their own expense. Banners proclaiming the parking regulations are on display throughout the city.

Once the new “no parking” signs are installed, only the beach access parking spaces and street parking on the east side of the city will reopen, eliminating about 2,000 parking spaces. If beach parking becomes a problem on the east side of the city, Tokajer said he would review the situation and come back to the mayor and city commission with a new plan.

Church, business lot issues

One problem that’s already made itself apparent now that Manatee Beach is reopened at full capacity to visitors is local churches lending their parking lots to beachgoers. Because the parking lots are privately owned, the city can’t regulate parking in them, however, Mayor Judy Titsworth expressed concern that not only are the lots being used for beach parking, pushing beachgoers through neighborhoods to beach access points, there’s also no way to enforce social distancing. With the public beach parking lot also now opened to full capacity, Tokajer said enforcing social distancing in that lot is also a problem.

For owners of private lots, including parking lots at commercial businesses and shopping plazas, if no parking signs are present, business owners can call HBPD officers to ticket violators who are parking in the lots to go to the beach. However, while HBPD officers will have cars towed if they are parked at beach access points, on city streets and in the right of way, it’s up to the parking lot owners to have vehicles towed out of their spaces.

Titsworth said she would reach out to the churches and other private lot owners to follow up on how the lots are being used and let them know what services HBPD officers can offer for parking violators.

Currently, Tokajer said there are no plans to up the city’s parking violation fine from $50 though he added that the issue would be revisited if necessary in the future.

HBPD officers are taking over the enforcement of parking at the Manatee Beach lot, along with social distancing and monitoring of beachgoers. If police enforcement at the beach becomes an issue, Tokajer said he’d ask Manatee County leaders to step in and bring staff back to the beach to deal with issues. On the weekends, Friday through Monday when beach traffic is typically at its highest, Tokajer said his officers would have reinforcements from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

Related coverage

Parking remains closed in Holmes Beach

Officers enforce new parking measures

Holmes Beach parking closed for beachgoers

Parking remains closed in Holmes Beach

Parking remains closed in Holmes Beach

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – Beach parking may be opening to visitors but in Holmes Beach, beach access, side of street and right of way parking remain closed to drivers.

Drivers who illegally park their vehicles may return to find them towed or ticketed. Holmes Beach police officers are regularly patrolling city streets to enforce the parking regulations.

Once the COVID-19 pandemic passes and parking is reopened in the city, visitors and residents will notice some major changes. During an April 28 virtual commission meeting, Chief Bill Tokajer presented a plan to open only the spaces needed for beach renourishment funding and leave much of the city’s parking closed, reducing parking by about 2,000 spaces.

Tokajer said the city is required to have 364 parking spaces available to the public for beach renourishment. In the city’s beach access points, there are 473 public parking spaces available. When the pandemic threat is over, Tokajer said he plans to only open those 473 beach access spaces, which don’t affect residents, and leave right of way and side of the street parking closed on all roads on the west side of the city.

From 28th to 38th streets in the south of the city, parking on the side of the street and right of way will remain closed from East Bay/Gulf Drive west to the beach. From the public beach at Manatee Avenue to 52nd Street, parking will be closed west of Gulf Drive except at beach accesses. In the rest of the city, side of the street and right of way parking will remain closed on all streets west of Marina/Palm Drive north to the Anna Maria city border. Once the new regulations are put into effect, Tokajer said his officers would monitor the situation to see if adjustments need to be made. He said the new regulations hopefully will ease beach parking and reduce traffic in residential areas.

Jayne Christensen, former chair of the city’s congestion committee, said that she’s “100% behind it,” and that the reduction in street parking in residential neighborhoods was exactly what her committee was working for.

“Thank you for doing this,” she said to commissioners.

“This is just a wonderful, big step to bringing balance back to the Island,” Commissioner Carol Soustek said.

Commissioners Pat Morton, Kim Rash, Jim Kihm and Terry Schaefer all agreed that they are behind enforcing the permanent reduction in parking.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Kihm said, adding that if any visitors to the Island want beach parking, they’d better plan to come out early.

Tokajer said he’s already ordered signs to be put up in anticipation of reopening the street end beach access parking and the removal of the no parking banners currently placed throughout the city. He added that the parking measures would not affect service workers, such as landscapers who are working at a residential property, from parking on the side of the street.

Another parking change that surprised even city leaders came when the Florida Department of Transportation, in conjunction with the county administrator’s office, put up signs on the south side of Manatee Avenue, prohibiting overflow parking from the Kingfish Boat Ramp.

In her May 1 report on the status of the city, Mayor Judy Titsworth said that FDOT gave Tokajer permission to cover the no parking signs across from Kingfish with bags. She added that the city will work with FDOT to come up with a safer, designated parking area for overflow parking for the boat ramp. During that time, however, the historic overflow parking on Manatee Avenue remains open to boaters.

Related coverage

 

What to expect on Monday at the beaches

 

Boaters outnumber beachgoers in Holmes Beach

 

Holmes Beach parking closed for beachgoers

Holmes Beach parking closed for beachgoers

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – Visitors to local beaches may have a surprise if they park on city streets, at beach accesses or along the right of way. Beginning at 6 a.m. on April 10, Holmes Beach police officers will tow violators at the violator’s expense.

A press release from the HBPD on April 9 stated that all city parking would be closed, except that on private property, to discourage people from congregating at the beach. All Manatee County beaches, including Manatee Public Beach in Holmes Beach, remain closed to the public.

In an April 9 conversation with The Sun, Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth said that the decision to close the remaining parking at beach accesses, along with street and right of way parking, was made after officers witnessed a larger than normal amount of people on the beach April 8. She said the point is to discourage people from coming to the beach and, rather than issuing a parking ticket that a driver may dismiss or ignore, officers will be towing the vehicles at the owner’s expense.

“Anyone who is illegally parked will be towed,” she said.

To help with outreach for the new parking regulations, Titsworth said that new banners had been purchased to place throughout the city to inform residents and visitors of the penalties for parking illegally.

She added that while she understands that people may feel “cooped up” staying at home, it’s still very important for everyone to stay home as much as possible and practice social distancing when they go out to stop the spread of coronavirus.

According to an emergency directive issued by Titsworth on April 9, the new parking regulations will continue through midnight April 30 unless terminated through the official action of the mayor.

Related coverage

Island beaches ‘closed’ but still accessible

Manatee County public beaches closing Friday 

Holmes Beach mayor declares state of emergency